In 1970 at Queens College's radio station WQMC in New York,
Duane Allman talked about how he first picked up the slide. It
was late 1967 and his group Hourglass was between albums: "I
heard Ry Cooder playing some time ago and I said, man, that's
for me. I got me a bottle and went in the house for about three
weeks and I said, 'Hey man, we've got to learn some songs . . .
I love this . . .' So we started doing it and for awhile it was
everybody looking at me and thinking, 'Oh no! He's getting ready
to do it again!' Everybody just lowered their heads . . . But
then I got a little better at it and improved it . . ."

Improved
it, he did. The fury
that could be unleashed or the sweetness that could be set free
when he slipped a Coricidin pill bottle on the ring finger of
his right hand to slide along his guitar's fret board defined an
approach to playing whose influence has been keenly felt. From
the basic "Dust My Broom" and accenting slides of Elmore James
and Muddy Waters, to the inroads made by Earl Hooker, it was
finally Allman who established the electric slide as a melodic
force. It was his sense of melody, combined with western swing
influenced dual guitar harmonies resting on ensemble-like modal
jazz underpinnings that distinguished the Allman Brothers Band
above the usual blues boogie outfits of the early '70s.

Born
on Nov. 20, 1946, in Nashville, Tenn., Howard Duane Allman
became hooked on R&B at an early age while listening to late
night blues shows over WLAC radio. Younger brother Gregg had
begun playing guitar and, after Duane sold the parts to a
motorcycle he'd wrecked, he bought one too. After a move to
Daytona Beach, Fla., the two brothers in their early teens
formed a band called the Y-Teens, named after the local YMCA
that provided them with gigs. A few years later they joined a
band called the House Rockers that backed a soul vocal group,
the Untils. Then, in 1965, the formed the Allman Joys.

When
Bill McEuen, manager of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, heard the
band following the release of a single of Willie Dixon's
"Spoonful" on Buddy Killen's Dial label, he encouraged the group
to relocate to Los Angeles. There the Allman Joys found little
success, only to return home and reform the Allman Joys briefly
into Almanac, then into Hourglass.

Hourglass
recorded two disappointing albums for Liberty in California.
Unhappy with the way Liberty chose material for the band, and
frustrated by the pseudo-psychedelic image that was foisted upon
them, Hourglass went to Alabama where they tented time in Rick
Hall's Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals. There they recorded
material they felt closer to, such as a dynamically charged
medley of B.B. King songs. But when the demos where brought back
to Liberty in L.A., the record company didn't like the new
direction the band was taking. Their West Coast manager called
the blues material "terrible and useless." Hourglass was
through.

Back
in Alabama, however, Rick Hall was so impressed with Duane's
playing during the demo sessions that, upon the disillusioned
guitarist's return, he phoned Allman and hired him to do session
work at Fame. Wilson Pickett was booked at the studio in early
September 1968. Thus began Allman's career as a studio musician.

Almost
immediately, the long-haired blonde guitarist who always played
standing up earned quite a reputation from his session work. And
as he plugged in and away at Fame, Criteria Studios in Miami,
and at Atlantic Studios in New York after Jerry Wexler heard
him, he also assembled, outside of his studio duties, the Allman
Brothers Band.

Until
the tragic motorcycle accident that claimed his life at 24 in
October 1971, Allman appeared on about three-and-a-half albums
by the Allman Brothers Band. With each album, beginning with
1969's The Allman Brothers Band, the six-man ensemble
gained more and more of a following. Allman's death was one of
rock's more untimely tragedies. The band he led was just about
to achieve the kind of national attention they deserved when he
swerved his bike to avoid a truck in Macon, Ga., and took that
last long slide down. His brother and the others carried on to
great, though turbulent success, but the band was never the same
again musically.

Throughout
the rise in popularity of the Allman Brothers Band, and often on
brief days off during grueling road tours, Allman kept up his
session work. Preferring the live, concert environment, however,
where much of his best playing was heard and left unrecorded,
Allman did begin to become weary of the sterile studio grind
after 1970. By then he was able to choose those session on which
he appears. What follows is a chronology cum discography of
those sessions which appeared on LP. Many of the standout cuts
were included on two substantial two record sets released by
Capricorn in the early 70's: An Anthology and An
Anthology Volume Two.

Most
of these albums are out of print, as are the anthologies. They
can still be found, though, for under $10 in collector's stores
that provide a good soul selection.

Even
the most perfunctory delve into the original albums that Allman
appeared on makes one quickly see that, good as the anthologies
were, they barely scratched the surface of what his southerner's
fingers could do. In a session career that filled roughly three
years, Allman left a prolific and startingly powerful legacy.

Wilson Pickett
Hey Jude
Atlantic (SD 8215)In response to Rick Hall's invitation, this is Allman's
first full session at Fame. The resultant LP, however, was
released approximately a month after a Clarence Carter set that
he appeared on.It
was Allman who suggested that Pickett try his hand with the
then-current Beatles hit. Pickett and others present initially
scoffed at the idea, but they gave it a go and Pickett found
himself with an unlikely hit that reached No. 23 on the
Billboard pop chart. When Hall played a tape of the song
over the phone for Jerry Wexler, the Atlantic executive was
struck by Allman's cocky soaring lead guitar. He went on to
purchase Allman's contract from Hall for $15,000, an almost
unheard-of sum for a session man who neither sang nor wrote
songs.During
these sessions Pickett coined the nickname, "Skyman," and later
"Skydog," for the confident kid who Pickett said was always "up
there." Besides the title cut, Allman is featured on Isaac
Hayes' funky shuffle "Toe Hold," "My Own Style Of Loving," "A
Man And A Half" - which showcases Allman's on-the-money Steve
Cropper-like soul fills - and on Pickett's cover of
Steppenwolf's boiling "Born To Be Wild." On that number Allman
responds to Pickett's vocals with odd discordant fills.An
impressive debut indeed. It's no wonder that Wexler was so taken
by Allman's playing even though the album cover's personnel
listing wound up crediting "David" Allman on guitar.

Clarence Carter
The Dynamic Clarence Carter
Atlantic (SD 8199)Meshing
more deeply into the production with Fame guitarists Jimmy
Johnson and Albert Lowe, Allman appears as the consumate session
man in an atmosphere less passionate than that of Pickett's. Yet
when lead guitar is called to the forefront, it's usually played
by Allman. On "Road To Love" the slide appears for the first
time. Carter, too, seems to be taken by the sound as he summons
Allman's break, saying, "Play that thing, now." Then, halfway
through the break, he states, "I like what I'm a-listening to
right now." Indeed the winding fire of the slide is an unusual
accouterments to the mid-tempo tune and it lifts it into a
standout.
"Look What I Got," later recorded by Boz Scaggs in a session
with Allman, is sweetly accented by soul fills played over
acoustic guitar. On "Harper Valley P.T.A.," of all things,
Allman provider sturdy bended backing riffs that help to carry
Carter's treatment along. On the closing "Weekend Love," Allman
is again out front with a persistent John Lee Hooker style
boogie riff that sounds as sinister as it sounds explosive. But
it's Carter's show and no break is taken. Aside from these
exceptions, Allman remained the invisible session man.

Arthur Conley
More Sweet Soul
Atco (SD 33-276)The man who had the hit "Sweet Soul Music" in 1967 recorded
half of this album at Fame. In what sounds like a nod to Wilson
Pickett's success, Conley covers the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
and we find Allman running through a few stepped-up leads during
the song's bridge. But that's all. He isn't heard in the rest of
the song. In contrast to Pickett's "Hey Jude," the brief licks
sound forced and obligatory instead of sounding raw and
spontaneous.
A generally muddy production mars the set as well. But when
Allman's guitar does appear, it seems to be on a different sonic
sphere. "Stuff You Gotta Watch," included in the anthologies
shows Allman rousing things with some high powered smoke. In the
ballad, "Speak Her Name," we get the rare opportunity to hear
Allman double-tracked, playing both manual style and slide
guitar against each other. The two sets of chops blend nicely by
songs end. Featured out front also on "That Can't Be My Baby,"
some more fine string tickling takes place in answer to what
otherwise is a weak effort by Conley.

The
Soul Survivors
Take Another Look
Atco (SD 33-277)Allman was along in the studio for the Atco debut of the
band that scored on the charts a year before with "Expressway To
Your Heart." Nine of the album's 11 cuts were done at Fame. The
hippie white soul of this mostly self-contained band is pretty
unexciting. On the overarranged "Darkness," however, Allman's
slide is suddenly let loose with incredible intensity, making
this cut-out album a "must" for the Duane Allman collector.
Aside from a few fills on other cuts, though, Allman remains on
rhythm guitar when he appears.

King
Curtis
Instant Groove
Atco (SD 33-293)The first album where Allman is credited specifically on
certain cuts. Besides Curtis, in fact, Allman is the only
credited musician. He's listed as contributing four guitar
solos, with "Hey Jude" mistakenly noted instead of the Jimi
Hendrix-inspired version of "Hey Joe" (close) that Curtis takes
a cool grove on here.
A slide-led version of "The Weight" and Allman's understated
slide work on "Games People Play" were included on the
anthologies. But it's Allman's fluid manual blues picking on
"Foot Pattin'" that should also be distinguished. Certain
sustained notes in his attack were becoming trademark.
Earlier in the fall of 1968 Allman sat in for another session
with Curtis that produced two Christmas instrumentals. "The
Christmas Song" and "What Are You Doing On New Year's Eve" were
included on the Atco set Soul Christmas (Atco 269).
The fiery counterpoint that Added to Curtis's masterful breath
control makes for some of the best music of his session career.
Following Curtis's murder in 1971, Allman included a portion of
the great sax player's "Soul Serenade" as a tribute, within the
Allman Brothers' jam during live performances of "You Don't Love
Me."

Boz
Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
Atlantic (SD 8239)Though not stated directly, for all intents and purposes,
Allman gets second billing after Scaggs on this, the former
Steve Miller Band member's slightly overlooked solo debut
masterpiece. Tagged as Duane "Skydog" Allman on the cover's
personnel listing, Allman positively shines on Scaggs' reading
of Fenton Robinson's blues classic, "Loan Me A Dime." Given that
much room to stretch out, he displays his B.B. King influence on
the song's quiet opening; then, working up a lather against
Barry Beckett's Hammond organ, the song builds through tempo
changes for a ferocious showcase of Allman's emotional energy.
This is his non-slide tour-de-force and probably his best
straight blues performance outside of the Allman Brothers Band.
The country side of Allman's slide surfaces for the first time
on "Now You're Gone." His guitar amply substitutes for genuine
pedal steel as it dips and drops across the airy melody in the
best Nashville tradition.
It's the dreamy slide work on Scaggs' waltz-like "Finding Her"
that brings out the atmospheric possibilities of the slide.
Distantly echoing through the tune, the slide rings moodily
until it swoops down the neck in long sulky drops by the close.
What Allman came to call his "Bird," his "Charlie Parker,"
chimes in as the cut fades. The fade is extended to highlight
that sound of the slide bottle noodling like a chirping bird
over the guitar's pickups.
Dobro is added on "Look What I Got" and it leads the way through
the Jimmie Rodgers chestnut, "Waiting For A Train." The strong
country tone of this outing was a dearture for Allman after his
soul sessions. But the slide and the introduction of dobro
showed him able to rise to the occasion and settle right in at
home.

Barry
Goldberg . . . And
Two Jews Blues
Buddah (5029)Barry Goldberg and Mike Bloomfield were anxious to work with
the reputable Muscle Shoals crew and, of the cuts recorded in
Alabama, Allman appears playing slide on Goldberg's show blues,
"Twice A Man." Whatever inspiration the two Chicago bluesmen
were seeking, however, didn't rub off on Allman. A later
Goldberg LP, Blasts From My Past (Buddah 5081), also
included tracks culled from these sessions. On that set Allman
plays slide on Elmore James' "It Hurts Me Too." But even though
James' thunderous slide can be can be sighted as an obvious
antecedent to Allman, he turns in an oddly rudimentary
performance.

Otis
Rush
Mourning In The Morning
Cotillion (8006)To produce the first LP by Otis Rush, Mike Bloomfield and
Nick Gravenites went to Fame in 1969. Although a proliferation
of weak material and occasionally overdone horn charts taint the
set, Rush's unique approach to blues certainly does have its
moments. Naturally his edgy, kinetic lead guitar takes center
stage, leaving Allman back in his role as ever soulful side man.
Only on "Reap What You Sow," and on Bloomfield's "Me," is there
any interplay between the two great guitarists. But even then
it's brief. With the taste of Allman's blues on Boz Scaggs'
"Loan Me A Dime," and following the unfulfilled promise of this
album, Allman's eventual work with Eric Clapton on Layla,
in retrospect at least, seems like an inevitability.

Aretha Franklin
This Girl's In Love With You
Atlantic (SD 8248)Aretha's funky slide-led version of "The Weight" follows the
same arrangement as King Curtis's earlier version. Allman adds a
few new frills here and there but producers Jerry Wexler and
Arif Mardin must have had Allman's riffs sticking in their minds
since the Curtis sessions.
The first anthology mistakenly labeled "The Weight" as appearing
on Franklin's earlier set, Soul '69. Allman doesn't
appear on that LP. Preceding "The Weight" here, however, is a
brooding version of Ronnie Miller's "It Ain't Fair." Along with
King Curtis himself on sax, Allman provides tasty up-front licks
in response to Franklin's second-to-none vocal phrasing.
In three blocks of sessions recorded between January and October
1969 in New York and at Criteria in Miami, Allman shares rhythm
and fill work with Jimmy Johnson and Eddie Hinton. The same
sessions produced Franklin's Spirit In The Dark LP.

Lulu
New Routes
Atco (SD 33-310)On the Bee Gees' Marley Purt Drive," complete with
neo-Dixie-land arrangement, Lulu opens her Atco debut with
Allman supplying winding electric slide. Producers Wexler,
Mardin and Tom Dowd again show their fondness for Allman's
peculiar trademark by putting the slide right on top of the
opening cut. Allman's manual style hard rock licks also accent
"Dirty Old Man" and "Sweep Around Your Own Back Door" later in
the set. Then, on a mellower note, it's Allman's
light-as-a-feather slide that gives Lulu's treatment of "Mr.
Bojangles" the ethereal quality that the tale of the dancer
seems to demand.

Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins
(Cotillion 9019)The first sound heard on this Canadian rock 'n' roll
legend's return to recording is Allman's dobro. Mixing folk,
country and rock 'n' roll standards, Hawkins had Allman running
the gamut of styles from a rolling version of "Matchbox," in
which he summons the slide, saying, "Go, Skydog," for Allman to
duel it out with King Biscuit Boy's harmonica, to the softly
twisting dobro on Bob Dylan's "One More Night."
"Down In The Alley" takes the slide into direct Elmore James
territory, resulting in another shoot-out with King Biscuit Boy.
Stormy slide accents also do battle with the harp on Hawkins'
percussive donnybrook with Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love."
The rare chance to hear Allman vocalize occurs during the call
and response of Hawkins' old hit, "Forty Days." Allman's voice
is easily distinguishable among the other session men on the
shouted response.

John
Hammond
Southern Fried
Atlantic (SD 8251)Allman plays lead guitar on four numbers here. In what
amounts to a rather restrained set considering the circumstances
of nearly total use of blues material being recorded at Muscle
Shoals, the slide still rises above things as it accents the
Howlin' Wolf classic, "Shake For Me," on the opening cut. On
another Wolf tune, "I'm Leaving You," the slide is somewhat
buried in the mix, but on "Cryin' For My Baby" Allman vamps
seething manual blues lines and hammer trills to a stop-time
arrangement not unlike the Allman Brothers' version of "Done
Somebody Wrong."
Hammond and Allman were good friends and Allman would stay at
Hammond's New York home on visits up north. On Side Two Hammond
tries his hand at electric slide on Muddy Waters' "I Can't Be
Satisfied." Where his dobro technique could often be stirring,
here we only get an idea of how difficult the switch to electric
can be. On the following cut, "You'll Be Mine," Allman returns
with his own slide and his dexterity in remaining fluid and
choked at the same time, giving each note its due, makes it no
contest.

Judy
Mayhan
Moments
Atco (SD 33-319)All but one cut of this gospel flavored piano player's Atco
LP was recorded at Muscle Shoals. That one exception, recorded
in California, included Lowell George, another late great slide
player, on rhythm guitar and flute. Allman's swooping,
Hawaiian-like electric slide appears on side one's "Everlovin'
Ways."

Johnny Jenkins
Ton-Ton Macoute
Atco (SD 33-331)The leader of the band that gave Otis Redding his start
(Johnny Jenkins And The Pinetoppers) also played a part in
getting Capricorn Studios and label off the ground with this set
released on Atco as part of the Capricorn Series. It's also
pretty much of a family affair for Allman. Joining in on the
sessions were fellow Allman Brothers Band members Butch Trucks,
Berry Oakley and Jai Johanny Johanson. Former Hourglass members
Paul Hornsby and Johnny Sandlin were on hand as well, with the
latter co-producing with Allman.
Present on all the cuts, Allman adds some New Orleans gumbo to
his dobro on the opening Dr. John song, "Walk On Gilded
Splinters," making for a rather odd hybrid. Later, the hypnotic
"Blind Bats And Swamp Rats" includes Allman bending eerily
distant long, sustained notes behind a mountain of percussion.
John Lee Hooker's "Dimples" is given a rocking treatment much
like the one the Allman Brothers used in their own reworking of
the song. Here Hornsby takes the second lead guitar in place of
Dickey Betts for the patented harmonies with Allman. The cooking
acoustic slide that Allman played on Muddy Waters' "Rolling
Stone" and his electric slide work on Bob Dylan's "Down Along
The Cove" were both featured on the first anthology album.

Aretha Franklin
Spirit In The Dark
Atlantic (SD 8265)The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section moved up to Atlantic
Studios in New York for three cuts here. They are also on the
cut "Pullin'," a spillover from the October '69 This Girl's
In Love... sessions. According to Atlantic session files,
Allman is playing guitar on "Pullin' " but, if he is, it's
acoustic rhythm. Credited on the album's cover only on "When The
Battle Is Over," he is heard playing churning riff rhythm with
Eddie Hinton and Jimmy Johnson.

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends
To Delaney From Bonnie
(Atco (SD 33-341)Recorded at Criteria and at the Decca Studios in New York in
April and July 1970, Allman's dobro leads the "Come On In My
Kitchen" medley, whose later live interpretation was included on
the second anthology. Here the dobro spits out bright staccato
licks over Delaney's punchy rhythm guitar by the song's "Going
Down The Road Feeling Bad" finale.
On "They Call It Rock And Roll Music" King Curtis joins the
lineup while Allman's guitar contributes to the high-stepping
rhythm support. Gliding slide takes an abbreviated solo in "Soul
Shake"; then it gets opened up full throttle on "Living On The
Open Road." The fierce fluidity that Allman exhibits here
practically takes on the phrasing characteristics of a "talking"
slide in a tradition similar to the talking pedal steel of
Nashville's Pete Drake. Though credited as playing only slide,
Allman also turns in some stirring manual leads and crisp
harmonies with guitarist Ben Benay on the Bramlett/Bramlett and
Bobby Whitlock-penned "Alone Together."

Derek
and the Dominos
Layla
Atco (SD 2-704)During an interview at WABC-FM in New York in 1971, Allman
answered the question about who's playing what on this ultimate
guitar player's album like this: "I play the Gibson, Eric plays
the Fender...if you can tell the difference between a Gibson and
a Fender, then you know who plays what..." Perhaps the most
provocative statement came later in the same interview, however,
when Allman conceded that he was responsible for all the lead
parts in the title cut with Clapton playing acoustic. It was
also Allman who came up with the very Allmanesque riff.

Following the release of this classic merger of two great
guitarists, Allman was urged to join Derek and the Dominos.
Actually he did play at least two concerts with the band, but
with his own band's Idlewild South LP recently released,
and with the magnificent Live At The Fillmore East just
around the corner, Allman told Clapton that he had his "own fish
to fry."
From the extended piano/slide coda of the title song, to the way
that Clapton interplays with, and is so obviously inspired by
Allman's crashing slide on "Key To The Highway," this is the
creme-de-la-creme of Clapton's career and of Allman's
session stints. It's acknowledged that the Dominos were about to
break up without any serious recording before Allman came along.
Clapton had been aware of Allman's steadily growing session
catalog and he specifically asked producer Tom Dowd to contact
the prolific guitarist. Allman, too, respected Clapton's work,
including the British guitarist's sessions with Aretha Franklin,
and he had already asked Jerry Wexler if he could "hang around"
when he heard about the sessions scheduled at Criteria.Layla's resilient force sounds as relentless today as it
did in 1970. As masterful an album as it is, it is also a
testament to Clapton's equilateral musicianship with Allman
taking as many, if not more, solos than Clapton himself. Allman,
of course, spread the spotlight evenly in the same way in his
own band with fellow guitarist Dickey Betts. As a two-record set
(no less), Layla features a song-to-song pacing that is
as nearly perfect as any in rock. And the songs follow on the
album in the same order as they were recorded. One more
concerted listening to Layla only underscores the tragic
dimensions of Allman's death barely a year after it's release.

Sam
Samudio
Sam Hard And Heavy
Atlantic (SD 8271)The former leader of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs recorded
his solo debut at Criteria. Credited specifically, Allman
appears on two cuts, doubling dobro and electric slide on John
Lee Hooker's "Goin' Upstairs" and augmenting with sailing slide
the funky syncopation of Samudio's own "Relativity." On the
former, Allman's slide keeps the patented Hooker boogie pulse
interesting. On the latter, it's simply another sterling
performance as Samudio's chorus vocal calls "higher" and the
slide naturally soars with the request.

Laura
Nyro
Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat
Columbia (KC 30259)Credited separately, "courtesy of Capricorn Records,"
Allman's name is followed by his own label affiliation as it is
on all of his later session work. Here he joins the
introspectively soulful Nyro on the song "Beads Of Sweat." The
uptempo tune finds Allman contributing stinging manual licks
during the verse and one amazingly long sustained note at the
bridge. It's another signature performance and Allman's only
soloing appearance on the set.

Ronnie Hawkins
The Hawk
Cotillion (SD 9039)Recorded only a few days after the completion of the
Layla sessions, Allman is back with Hawkins with dobro on
the acoustic songs, and with ripe slide on the rockers. Hawkins
and Allman sound like they got along well. Besides beckoning
"Skydog" for a straight Chuck Berry break on "Red Rooster,"
Allman is given the hollered response part on "Wine-Spo-De-O-Dee."
He names varieties of wine and chimes "ah-ha's" throughout the
song. Electric licks are exchanged nicely between Allman and
guitarist Charlie Freeman on "Ooby Dooby" and Allman stays
mostly with the dobro on the softer, folk derived material
throughout Side Two.

Delaney And Bonnie And Friends
Motel Shot
Atco (SD 33-358)Allman joined a lineup that included Gram Parsons, Dave
Mason, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and the Dominos' Bobby Whitlock
and Carl Radle for his second appearance on a Delaney and Bonnie
album. The concept here was to put across the mostly acoustic
music that musicians play among themselves after hours. Driven
by a loosely knit dose of traditional and spiritual material,
Allman plays dobro on complete versions of "Come On In My
Kitchen" and "Going Down The Road Feeling Bad." The latter
features extended interplay between the dobro and Ben Benay's
acoustic lead. Among the album's 12 tracks, electric guitar
appears only once. On Delaney's "Sing My Way Home," Allman
plugged in with moody fluttering slide complete with bird calls.

The
Everly Brothers
Stories We Could Tell
RCA (SLP 4620)It's been variously reported that Allman made an appearance
on this early '70's Everlys set. Among the 14 guitarists,
including three slide guitarists, credited, however, Allman is
not listed. Ry Cooder's inimitable slide is featured throughout
and Allman, if he appears at all, is not discernible.

Delaney & Bonnie
D & B Together
Columbia (KC 31377)The duo's switch to Columbia didn't affect their sound or
their choice in backing musicians. Allman's slide appears in a
very understated backing role on "Sound Of The City," "Well
Well," "Comin' Home" and on "Big Change Comin'." Only on
"Groupie (Superstar)," the Bonnie Bramlett/Leon Russell ballad
that was a hit for the Carpenters, does Allman's guitar come out
from the background to play sweet, gospel tinged manual fills.

Herbie Mann
Push Push
Embryo (SD 532)In July 1971 Allman appeared on his last complete session
LP. Listed first in each personnel listing with some of New
York's finest studio men, the all-instrumental setting recalls
Allman's work with King Curtis two years before. Since then,
however, Allman displays an immediately identifiable
developmental progression. With a stylistic ease of phrasing
entirely his own, one might see this set as an indication of the
direction Allman's session career might have taken.
On the title song, Allman's trademark Les Paul manual phrasing
percolates in ways that make him, by now, instantly
recognizable. Mann's versions of David Gates' "If" and Marvin
Gaye's "What's Going On," show Allman's lilting bossa nova
rhythm playing as nothing less than exquisite in its soulful
softness. Then, holding his own as a jazz guitarist with strong
R&B influences, Allman's response licks to Mann's flute on
"Spirit In The Dark" and "What'd I Say" bubble with bright and
funky signature phrases.
When the slide is brought out on "Never Can Say Goodbye," it
becomes the most subtly understated exhibition ever of Allman's
glass-on-metal touch. The slide floats over the tune like a
melancholy breeze, dipping and swooping and fluttering away.
Another turn was taken in Allman's rise as a session man with
this album. But the full circle he'd come from King Curtis to
this new sophistication caused him to comment that he felt as if
he'd perhaps reached as far as he could with the guitar; he had
begun to question his ability to progress any further as a
musician.

Cowboy
5'll Getcha Ten
Capricorn (SD 864)In early September 1971 Allman sat in during the recording
of the second album by Capricorn's fledgling group, Cowboy. It
was his last session. After touring with the Allman Brothers
Band nearly non-stop for two years, his group was about to take
some much needed time off, yet Allman couldn't ignore a call to
the studio.
A different take of Allman's lone appearance on this LP was used
on the first anthology. In both versions of "Please Be With Me"
Allman is heard playing lazy dobro fills to the light country
folk ballad. Somewhat ironically, members of Cowboy later found
their way into Dickey Betts' band, Great Southern, and, still
later, into another revamped Allman Brothers Band in the late
'70's that attempted to rekindle the glory days with a dual
guitar attack. Quick to admit at the time of his death that
Duane Allman's shoes could never, and should never attempt to be
filled, the Allman Brothers Band dissolved for good, it seems,
in 1983.

Jerry
Wexler described Allman as a masterly player who, being from the
South, had a natural feel and appreciation for blues. He went on
to commend Allman's grounding in bop and country style guitar,
sighting Hank Garland and Chet Atkins as influences to the
latter. In blues, he pointed to Allman's love for such artists
as B.B. King, Albert King, Slim Harpo, T-Bone Walker, Blind
Willie Johnson and, of course, Robert Johnson.

Allman's
guitar kept up with the best of them. At Macon, Georgia,
Memorial Chapel, it was Wexler who delivered the eulogy at
Allman's funeral. Dr. John, Delaney Bramlett and the stunned
Allman Brothers Band performed at the service. Hundreds of
people attended to see Skydog off as he was buried with a Gibson
guitar and a slide bottle reportedly slipped on the ring finger
of his right hand.